Path: utzoo!telecom-request Date: Tue, 9 Apr 91 20:20 PDT From: John Higdon Newsgroups: comp.dcom.telecom Subject: Re: Another Kind of Selective Ringing Reply-To: John Higdon Message-ID: Organization: Green Hills and Cows Sender: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu Approved: Telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Submissions-To: telecom@eecs.nwu.edu X-Administrivia-To: telecom-request@eecs.nwu.edu X-Telecom-Digest: Volume 11, Issue 279, Message 3 of 12 Lines: 42 Mike Coleman writes: > In alt.privacy, greg@hoss.unl.edu (Lig Lury Jr.) writes: > > These already exist. You dial, then must supply a code sequence before > > the phone will ring. The caller's name appears on a display so you can > > decide whether or not to answer. > Does anyone know if these are available in any kind of affordable form > (i.e., not part of a huge phone system)? > This sort of thing strikes me as being considerably more useful than > Caller ID. Oh yes, these little boxes are quite available and are relatively inexpensive, and will become more so as CLASS services become more widespread. But as to your assertion that the device is more useful than Caller ID, not only do I disagree but counterassert that the device is rude to callers. First, you insist that a caller must have a DTMF-capable phone to aspire to the higher levels of your graces. No entry of digits would, I assume, be construed as an "unknown caller" or worse, "withholding of ID". Second, this wonderful device answers your phone every time, charging the caller for all attempts, successful or not. So your [fill in the relationship of someone close to you] is stranded and calls you from a COCOT that disallows DTMF after call completion. Not only has that person been unsuccessful, but has lost coin in the process. As a person who potentially would be rejected by Call Block (tm), I can assure you that I would rather have the line not answered or a rejection recording come from the CO at no charge than face one of those Rube Goldberg boxes, knowing that I had just paid for the privledge. John Higdon | P. O. Box 7648 | +1 408 723 1395 john@zygot.ati.com | San Jose, CA 95150 | M o o !